A fairy tale
by extremely romantic
Summary: When little Sybbie asks Mary to invent a fairy tale, she tells her a story about a beautiful cold-hearted princess and a brave knight. Do you notice something familiar?


On a rainy afternoon of spring, Tom was in the children's room with George and Sybbie. The little girl was playing with a doll while the little boy was building something with some wood building blocks. Tom was sitting on the floor between his daughter and his nephew, trying to help both of them with their toys, but building a house was easier than choosing the right dress for a doll and Sybbie didn't look pleased about that.

When Mary came back from the village she passed through the hallway and saw them. Sybbie was too focused on her doll and Tom was telling to George a house needed a door and some windows, to notice her. She stood in the doorway for a while looking at them, thinking about her husband and her sister and how much they all missed them.

Then Tom raised his eyes towards the door and saw her.

"Here you are. I was looking for you." She entered the room and kissed quickly both her son and her niece on their little heads.

"Hello mama."

"Hello aunty."

The children greeted her cheerfully and she sat on the armchair near the window.

"So, my darlings, what are you doing? You look so busy."

"I'm building a house, mama. Uncle Tom is helping me."

Mary smiled at Tom and tried to dismiss that sad thought from her mind.

"And I'm playing with my favourite doll."

Mary recognized the doll she had bought for Sybbie in London and was glad to know it had become her favourite one.

"Can I play with you?" She asked her niece sweetly.

"Yes, aunty. Papa wasn't able to help me choosing the right dress for a ball at Buckingham Palace."

Mary smiled again at Tom and he admitted, a little uncomfortable:

"I'm afraid I'm not good in those sorts of things…"

Mary chose a dress from the floor and gave it to Sybbie. "What about this one?"

"I think it suits her. She will look like a princess."

"Of course she will. A real princess." Confirmed Mary.

For a while nobody spoke and Mary looked out the window. That sad thought has returned in her mind.

"Can you tell us a story, aunty Mary?" Sybbie asked.

"A story? What story?"

"A fairy tale, but not the same old ones. I already know them. I asked papa but he told me he didn't know any."

"I'm afraid I'm not good at inventing stories…" Mary glanced at Tom.

"Oh please, please." The little girl begged her.

"Oh yes, please mama." George echoed his cousin.

Mary sighed, then she turned to look out the window again and finally she began:

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young princess who lived with her father, the king, her mother, the queen, and her two younger sisters in a wonderful castle…"

"Was she beautiful, aunty?" Sybbie asked.

"Yes… I think she was, but she was selfish and cold hearted too…" Mary answered. "…They lived happily, but the king was worried because he had just three daughters and a princess couldn't inherit the kingdom and the castle."

"But this isn't fair!" Sybbie cried out. "Is it, papa?"

Tom shook his and glanced at Mary.

"Anyway," she went on, "The ear… The king's eldest daughter had to marry someone to inherit the kingdom and the king invited some princes and some knights to the castle. Among those ones there was a knight who was braver and kinder than all the others. He was really a good man, a man of honour…" Mary stopped for a moment and looked out again.

"Was he like papa?" George asked.

Mary smiled at him and nodded. The little boy climbed up her knees and sat in her lap. She held him in her arms and kissed him again.

"And what happened then?" Asked Sybbie.

"The king thought he could become a good king and a good husband for his daughter…"

"But aunty," Sybbie interrupted her aunt again, "Only the princess has to choose her husband."

"Sybbie!" Tom scolded his daughter gently, "Let Mary goes on…"

"Everybody in the castle and in the kingdom loved the brave knight, but the cold-hearted princess wanted to marry a prince, not just a knight. She thought he wasn't enough for her and started to treat him badly. But the brave knight could look inside her and see the little good that was in her. He fell in love with her and so he proposed to her, but she refused…"

"Why?" Her niece asked her again.

"Because she was a foolish girl…" Mary looked out again.

"So, she didn't love him. Did she?"

"Sybbie, please, be quiet. Come here with me and let aunty Mary finishes her story." The little girl reached her father and he held her.

"…After the princess refused the knight's proposal, a war broke out and the knight, with his broken heart, joined the army. The war was far away from that kingdom so all the people at the castle were safe, but it lasted a very long time… One day a wicked wizard came to the castle. He was very powerful and he wanted to become king and rule the kingdom. The only way he could do it was to marry the princess…"

"Did she love him?"

"No, Sybbie, she didn't, but sometimes things are complicated…"

"Why?"

"… All the princes and the knights were away and the wizard was very powerful and…"

"But…" Sybbie tried to say something, but Tom stopped her with a glance.

"…The wicked wizard promised her that if she had married him she would have been very rich and very powerful. But in those long years of war, the princess found out she was in love with the brave knight, she always had been in love with him. He was always in her mind and in her prayers and she realized her heart had melted. His love had changed her and she wasn't the same girl anymore. One day the knight, badly wounded, came back to the castle. The princess was upset, but grateful because he was still alive. She looked after him and after a while he started to get well…"

"So they could stay together."

"No, not yet, because… The knight knew a dame during the war. He felt lonely and broken-hearted; she had been sweet and good to him and loved him…"

"But did he love the dame?"

"No… But she was a really gentle girl and he didn't want to break her heart…"

"…Because he was a good man…" Sybbie added.

"Yes… He was indeed…" Mary stared at the floor and sighed.

"And then aunty?"

"The brave knight realized he was still in love with the princess and took the wicked wizard on with a magic rag dog, the princess had given him to bring him luck before he left…"

"A stuffed dog like that you have on your dressing table, mama?" George asked Mary.

"Yes darling… More or less like that… The rag dog was so powerful that the wicked wizard had to leave the castle and he never returned again… And finally the knight and the princess could stay together."

"And what about the dame the knight had met during the war?" Little Sybil asked again.

"She understood the knight was in love with the princess and…" Mary took a very deep breath, but the children didn't notice it, just Tom did. "…She left…"

"And did they live happily ever after?"

"Of course they did." Mary nodded and pressed her lips together trying to smile at Sybbie.

And then she looked out again. Rain was still falling and that sad thought returned in her mind.

She knew too well happy endings were only in fairy tales.

Hope you liked it! Thank you for reading. Hope you didn't find too many grammar mistakes, English is not my language. Reviews are always welcome.


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